Monty Bennett’s name will not appear on the ballot for the Tarrant Regional Water District board of directors yet he remains a powerful backstage player whose influence could shape the direction of the district’s business for years to come.

Bicycle and pedestrian projects spanning 17 Dallas-Fort Worth area cities and seven counties have received a $23.2 million boost from the Texas Transportation Commission, the North Central Texas Council of Governments announced on Friday.

With local entities contributing more than $11 million toward the projects, more than $34 million is planned to be spent on transportation enhancements as a result of the funding awards, improving bicycle and pedestrian access in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman and Tarrant counties, according to the Arlington-based council.

The money will fund a mixture of large and small projects. Fifteen bicycle and four pedestrian improvement projects received funds. The awards range in size from $200,000 for an on-street bicycle route signage project in McKinney to $3.01 million for a 2.5-mile trail extension of the VeloWay/SoPac project in Dallas.

Fort Worth was awarded $2.16 million for the East Bank extension of the Trinity Trails Clear Fork and will be matched by $539,000 from the city.

In addition, the North Central Texas Council of Governments received $552,000 for a regional education and safety campaign to promote a culture of safety for bicycle and pedestrian activities, and to encourage and educate residents about the benefits of walking and biking as alternative modes of transportation.

The allocation marks one of the largest bicycle-pedestrian funding distributions for the region in recent years, as the Dallas-Fort Worth area received roughly one-third of the $70 million awarded across the state.

Transit authorities were also aided by the funding. The Denton County Transportation Authority was awarded almost $2 million for a 1.5-mile extension of the A-train Rail Trail along railroad right-of-way from Swisher Road in Lake Dallas south to Kelton Road in Hickory Creek, and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) received $416,000 for expansion of its bike-sharing program.

More information on the transportation enhancements is available at www.nctcog.org/te.